Static timing analysis (STA) is a technique for computing the expected timing of a digital circuit. To perform STA, timing constraints must be specified for the digital circuit. A computer aided design tool may perform STA using the timing constraints to analyze the digital circuit and determine whether the digital circuit is able to operate correctly at a given clock frequency. STA may be performed in a variety of different contexts such as during circuit design if invoked by a user, during implementation as part of synthesis, placement, and/or routing, and the like.
One way of specifying timing constraints is by a user invoking a tool-specific command through which the user specifies one or more timing constraint file names. In order to use a particular parameterizable module of hardware description language such as cores or Intellectual Properties (IPs) in a circuit design, the user must determine which timing constraints are applicable to the parameterizable modules, create timing constraint files specifying the timing constraints for the parameterizable modules, and associate the various timing constraint files with the corresponding parameterizable modules in the circuit design. This is largely a manual and time consuming process subject to error.
Another way of specifying timing constraints is through the use of metadata. Metadata may be specified in IP-XACT format, which is an eXtensible Markup Language (XML) format that may be used to define and describe electronic components and their designs. The creation of metadata, however, is also a manual, error-prone process that requires significant knowledge of XML syntax. In many cases, hardware designers are unfamiliar with XML. This unfamiliarity may further complicate the creation and usage of timing constraints, thereby inhibiting usage of parameterizable modules.